So here we are. As many of you know I have decided in this next season of life to Squad Lead a group of World Racers on the first leg of their journey. One of the first things that always comes up when talking about these things is how much we have to raise. Let’s just have some real talk about fundraising for a minute. If I’m being completely honest, I hate it. There is nothing that is natural for me when it comes to asking other people for money. It’s humbling. It’s uncomfortable. It’s kind of taboo and I just really don’t like it. There’s always this awkward space where I’m not sure people even know why I’m asking, or when they don’t know what the support money is translating into on my journey. I guess I’d like to clear some of that up and give you a vision of what it means to financially support me. In doing that, I’d like to share a piece of my heart.
Let me paint a picture of what happens when you click on that little orange donate tab. I receive a donation. This donation goes into a budget that covers a couple of different things. Food. Lodging. Insurance. Flights etc. Your support allows me to get on a plane and join N squad in India as they walk through the next season of their lives. This means I have the honor and the privilege of doing life with 55 missionaries who are seeking after God’s heart. The truth behind what I actually get to be a part of is really beautiful. God writes stories, not money. But it is an essential means to an end. Not only does your support get me on the plane with my church, it creates the possibility for allowing pride to be broken. It can facilitate clearing your heart of the practically permanent cobwebs of entitlement and makes room for His love, for His purpose. It’s opens the door for learning what Paul meant when he said, “I die daily”. Those are things, had I not gone on my race, that wouldn’t be written onto my heart.
My next season looks a little different, I am still acting upon the great commission, but this time it means commissioning a new church.
I am a part of cultivating authentic community where the goal is to ultimately bring people closer to the Father. Basically we are establishing a church without walls. A church that maybe doesn’t have a building to meet in, but every time it gathers as a body experiences the kind of Kingdom Christ talks about in Luke 17. It is within us.
Kingdom was within X squad and I was able to have an incredible example of it. I experienced intimacy with my teammates and more importantly with God. I was encouraged to lead with vulnerability and humility. I saw what it looked like to be honest with open communication. I experienced a place where my ugliness and struggles were received in grace and I learned to do the same. I was able to hear hard things and say hard things. I learned to speak truth in to others and use words that bring life. I worshipped freely. Learned more from the Word than ever before. I failed my team. I celebrated my team. I watched them dive into their relationships with our Savior and He showed me exactly what that was supposed to look like for me.
Once I started learning what it was like to live a life that is full, I started seeing what it is to live life from the over flow. So not only am I being filled by the Spirit and bearing the fruit, I now am able to live my life and start speaking in to others from that place. I start seeing the cultures around me with His eyes, not mine. I now earnestly desire to share the truth of the gospel because I’m actively being transformed by it.
This time around I get to be apart of creating that space for other people. I get to set this example for them. I am honored and convinced that this is exactly what God called me to do. I have the opportunity to watch lives transform and then watch those transformed lives facilitate transformation in the places around them. I get to see and encourage the people of the church in to being proactive for the cause of Christ.
These things are a small glimpse of my heart behind what I have been called to do. I would humbly like to ask you if you would consider being a support to me financially. If you are unable to do so then I just ask for your prayers. I have to raise $6,500 to be fully funded for squad leading and currently am about 20% funded.
Thank you for taking the time to hear me out and see a small part of my heart. I look forward to sharing more as I move forward in my journey!
